Young intruder shot to death unknowingly by father

Robert Miller, Libor Jany and Eileen FitzGerald

Updated 8:49 am, Friday, September 28, 2012

New Fairfield and state police are on the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

New Fairfield and state police are on the scene of a fatal shooting...

A blue tent protects the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

A blue tent protects the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House...

New Fairfield and state Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

New Fairfield and state Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting...

These are the two neighboring houses on Meeting House Hill Circle involved in a fatal shooting incident early Thursday morning, Sept. 27, 2012.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

These are the two neighboring houses on Meeting House Hill Circle...

New Fairfield and state Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

New Fairfield and state Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting...

State Trooper Matt Losh emerges from the backyard of a home on Meeting House Hill Circle in New Fairfield where a man reportedly shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

State Trooper Matt Losh emerges from the backyard of a home on...

New fairfield First Selectman John Hodge talks with police in the New Fairfield High School driveway. New Fairfield and state police are investigating a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into a relative's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

New fairfield First Selectman John Hodge talks with police in the...

Jeffrey Giuliano
Photo: Contributed Photo

Jeffrey Giuliano

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School yearbook.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School...

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School yearbook.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Tyler Guliano as he appeared in the 2012 New Fairfield High School...

New Fairfield Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into his aunt's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

New Fairfield Police officer Michael Corrigan is on the scene of a fatal shooting on Meeting House Hill Circle. Sources say a man shot his son, who was allegedly breaking into his aunt's house.
Photo: Carol Kaliff

NEW FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Around 1 a.m. Thursday, a woman heard an intruder break into her home at the end of a quiet neighborhood street. She called her brother, Jeffrey Giuliano, who lives next door on Meeting House Hill Circle. He came over with protection for his sister -- a handgun.

On the front lawn, Giuliano confronted the intruder, who was clothed all in black and wearing a ski mask.

The intruder lunged -- police said he was holding a weapon -- and Giuliano pulled the trigger. The shot killed the intruder.

Only after his ski mask was removed did Giuliano realize he knew the intruder. It was his adopted son.

Tyler Giuliano, a 10th-grader at New Fairfield High School who turned 15 on Aug. 2, was dead. State Police confirmed his identification and the circumstances. They offered no motive for the teenager's actions nor specified the weapon he was found holding.

"Everybody is just shaking their heads over it," First Selectman John Hodge said Thursday. "We're hoping the police can get to the bottom of it."

A family member, who did not want to be identified, said the boy was adopted and previously had the last name of Januzzi.

Jeffrey Giuliano, brother of the homeowner, Alexis Scocozza, was described Thursday as "everyone's favorite teacher." He teaches fifth grade and science at Meeting House Hill School and is known as Mr. G.

Schools Superintendent Alicia Roy sent an email to parents Thursday afternoon. "Our district has experienced a tragedy that has affected us deeply," she wrote to parents and guardians. The tragedy was not discussed with students, she wrote, because "the facts were not clear."

Thursday afternoon at New Fairfield Plaza, Robbie and Kim Sarnelli said they knew both Jeffrey Giuliano and his son, Tyler.

"He was very open and very happy,'' Kim Sarnelli said of Tyler.

Robbie Sarnelli had been a student of Giuliano's at Meeting House Hill School.

"Everybody liked him,'' he said.

Jeffrey Giuliano's colleagues at Meeting House Hill School declined comment Thursday afternoon. "We've been told not to say anything," said one teacher, who declined to give her name.

Tyler Giuliano was a member of the New Fairfield Civil Air Patrol, the first civil air patrol to be located at a Connecticut high school.

"He loved to fly," said Ken Chapman, adult leader of the patrol. Tyler "was active in the power and glider flight programs" and was starting his second year in the patrol.

Meeting House Hill Circle ends at the Giuliano and the Scocozza homes.

It is a neighborhood of well-kept Colonials and ranches, the shrubs and lawns well-trimmed. The road is narrow and the houses are close to each other.

One neighbor, who did not want to be named, said she heard shots in the night.